


It's a long way back home (and maybe we're better here)

by Itsenoughtime



Category: Ocean's 8 (2018)
Genre: A little bit of angst, A little bit of fluff, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Crossover, F/F, Final Fantasy - Freeform, final fantasy tactics a2, ocean's eight - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 17:22:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19381294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Itsenoughtime/pseuds/Itsenoughtime
Summary: it's a final fantasy tactics au were my favourite wives can be as badass as i want





	It's a long way back home (and maybe we're better here)

**Author's Note:**

> ok so I had this idea for a while and since i love video games and ocean's eight o thought why not.  
> it's weird and fantastic and i love it.

The moon shines over them while they wander on the streets; they are young, and they are poor, but they are happy and that’s all that matters under the gentle glow of the stars. They pass by an antique book shop, and the shine of the cover of a heavy looking book catches Lou’s eye. They get in the shop; they know they should not waste money on pleasures, but Lou loves books, and it’s Lou’s birthday after all, so Debbie indulges her just to see her eyes reflecting the shine of the cover when she holds the book in her hands. There’s an odd  x on the front that is crossed by a bar that looks like it’s  made of gold, and in the center there’s a green stone that changes Lou’s eye color when the light hits it just right.  The owner of the shop, an old, funny looking man lets them inspect the book before they buy it.

“ You can open and check it out now. It is, after all, a book not many would understand. No returning.”

So Lou flips the book open and the pages start to move on their own; a blinding light engulfs them, the bookshelves and the old man all become a blur.

And then darkness.

\---

There is no explanation for the view they open their eyes to, other than the old hag selling the books must have poisoned them or something, because what they see is only described in fairytales.

The sun is blinding, but it’s a nice, warm contrast to the way Debbie’s blood freezes when she spots Lou lying on the emerald grass, unmoving. She barely has time to process what to do when she hears a voice shouting “ duck!!” in her direction, and Debbie brings her head to rest on her knees before a creature jumps right over her head. Debbie looks up and , for all the times she said to herself that God doesn’t exist, prays that somebody up here- a saint she might have sworn at, anything really- will help them because the atrocious looking dog in front of her, growling at her with teeth as red as sin is anything but human.

“ Oh dear, this is so very unfortunate. Sweetheart ,will you please slay this Panther for me? I tried to tame it but I guess it must’ve not liked the sound of my instrument because it went into a complete frenzy.”

The look on Debbie’s face at the woman’s request must’ve spoken volumes, because the stranger let out a loud sigh and mumbled “ what’s with today’s youth…” and suddenly a warm hand was pulling Debbie out of the monster’s claws and into soft  skin. Lou held Debbie tightly and tried to get up, but as soon as she bent her leg she let out a whimper and collapsed. The dog leaped into the air and right when Debbie thought that whatever this was, would be over soon it stopped. Mid-air.

And descending from the sky, trickling down with the light, an empty armor. That started speaking.

“ you who have summoned me, what for?”

“ well, as you can see I’m quite stuck in a rut here, and I wish to form a clan with those two right here”

“ a what!?”

“ A clan! Oh dear, you seem flung out of space. Do I not look intimidating enough for you to join me in defeating this beast?”

Lou thought that with that mess of a hair and clothes fresh from her grandmother’s closet she did not look, in fact, intimidating. 

She exchanged a quick glance with Debbie.

“ Listen, woman. We have no idea where we are or what the fuck’s going on, but we sure as hell aren’t joining none of your shady cult of whatever. But we would be grateful if you could show us the nearest train station please.”

“ oh for Shiva’s grace, look at your options! You two don’t seem to have any experience in combat, I really need help and so do you… I’ll let you be the leader, just please let’s form a clan”

“and why would we do that?”

 The beast suddenly got closer to them, almost as if defying time.

“ Your time is running to an end; swear your oath now or do as you wish.”

The voice echoed in the empty armor, and at that point the stranger seemed to near a panic attack.

“ Lou, listen, let’s just do as she wishes; it’s not like we have much choice here. We’ll figure out the rest later. “

And with that, the armor lifted its sword , brought it to their hearts and pushed it right through them; and yet no blood was shed, it didn’t hurt. When the sword was pulled out, Debbie and Lou found themselves in complete different clothes.

“ With my blessing, you are now part of this world. Your heart has spoken, and your job has been chosen. You who lives on the edge of the law and has the heart of a lion, never missing the mark,  you shall be a thief until you grow stronger. And you, who yields in her eyes the wisdom of a sage but the inexperience of a rookie, you will be a scholar.

And now, with the power conferred by the 12 judges and this sword, I declare you a clan.”

And with that, the armor disappeared, and an energy sphere was thrown at the creature, who fell to the ground.

“ Good, good. Now make good use of these weapons and defeat the beast, will you?”

“what weapons?” It took seconds for Debbie to realize that she was holding a knife in her hand, and as soon as the beast jumped at her, her hand seemed to have a mind of its own because the next thing she knew was that the dog was scowling at her , a gash open in its side.

“ Lou, Lou please do something…” Debbie was terrorized, and yet Lou looked like she had no care in the world.

“ Debbie…I got a fucking book as a  weapon. I’m not sure that throwing it at the beast will help much.”

And Lou was, in fact holding a blue book in her hands, inspecting it cautiously. Debbie caught a glimpse of the gold cover hanging from Lou’s side before Lou opened the book and a burst of fire leaped out of it, hitting the creature who fled in flames.

“….”

“…”

“ Well that was something…”

And then the stranger runs to them and engulfs them in a big hug, her dress getting caught between their feet.

“ Oh dear, that was magnificent!”

There’s a slight look of panic on Lou’s face, that Debbie chases away with soft hands on her back and fingers in her hair as soon as the woman lets them go.

“ Well, now that we’ve seen the back of that monster, how about we go back in town and see to that nasty cut on your knee, dear? Targ Wood is not that far away, and there’s a  really good pub where I could buy you food in honor of our new-founded clan,hm? What do you think?”

Debbie and Lou exchange glances, but if anything, the rumbling of their stomach and the slight look of  pain on Lou’s face says it all.

“ … yes please. We would be grateful.”

“ well then, that’s set. Oh, but where are my manners. I’m Rose. I’m a beastmaster.”

“ I’m Debbie.”

“ …Name’s Lou.”

 

 

\-----

 

 

“ Ivalice ? Where’s that, in Norway or something?”

“ what’s a Norway?”

It was really far away, actually, the village Rose talked about. They walked until the sun set, up to a small city where a humanoid-like dog greeted them.

( “ do we fight that too?”

“ God no. That’s a bangaa. You don’t want to mess with them”

“ wasn’t planning on it .” )

They found the pub, got Lou’s scratch cured by a white mage

 ( “ Her stick is glowing. Debbie don’t let her get that stick near me oh my Go-“

It turns out it’s a rod. A magic one , even, and it’s used by mages. That cast actual spells, ones that make Lou’s wound disappear.

“ It’s like your tome. White mages use rods, but you need a tome to cast spells. That’s what you did out there, with that Phantera,”

“ you mean this book? I swear I can’t understand a shit written in it”

“ That’s because you don’t know the spells yet. You need practice. But from what I’ve heard all scholars know three basic spells; fire, ice and thunder.”

“ I ain’t no witch sweetie.“

Turns out that maybe Lou is, because she can understand the first three pages even if it’s a language she’s never seen before. )

Rose orders them something they can’t spell, and while travellers pass them by Debbie lounges in their pockets and steals whatever she can get her hands on.

( “ you are a thief. You steal and use a knife.  That’s your main ability. But please, don’t get caught”

“ Never have, honey.”)

“ what are these?”

Lou points at a group of women, who would almost look normal if it weren’t for their bunny ears and whiskers.

“ They are vieras. Oh dear, just where have you been living?”

“ In America.”

The drinks are brought to the table, and Rose dives right into that liquid that smells just like beer and looks just like beer and- it is beer, after all, Lou decides. A fancy named beer.

Rose wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and waves the bartender for another drink, then turns her attention to the couple.

 “ so you really aren’t from here, are you?”

“ that’s a little bit obvious, isn’t it ?”

Debbie kicks her under the table, because Rose is their only hanging thread in this world they’ve landed, and there’s no need to be a smartass, not until they make some sense out of all this.

“ No , we aren’t. And we would be grateful if you could answer some of our questions.”

Rose gulps down her second pint of the night, and tries to focus on the brunette talking to her.

Many, many beers later, they found out that: everyone has a job. Some are mages, some are knights, everyone gets assigned one by the judge based on their true self. They can be changed, though; you complete quests, and get experience and see the world and bla bla bla and you change, you grow, and so does your class.

Rose is a beastmaster; she can tame beasts and have them be her allies by playing the right instrument.

There are actual monsters- splendid , misunderstood creatures,as Rose would have it – that live in the wild and attack people and kill.

( “ No, Lou, they’re only dangerous if you disturb them.”

‘…sure”)

“ What’s clan?”

“ A clan’s like a family, in a way. Clan members fight together, get the same amount of money after mission, help each other in battle, share experience.”

( “ Debbie, we got ourselves into a book club”

“ Yet you’re the only one with one, honey”

“ …fuck you.” )

The dim light shines on  the cover of the tome that somehow has made it to this world from the library, and Rose asks about it.

“ This? No idea. We opened it and suddenly we found ourselves in Narnia-“  “Ivalice” “-and now we’ll have to find a way to get back.”

Debbie takes the book and opens it, soon realizes that there’s her name and Lou’s name and Rose’s name in it and that is more creepy than every other thing she’s seen today.

“ Lou, look. There’s something written in it.”

“ It’s a book, Debbie. That’s the point”

“ No… look.”

The three women inspect the blank page except for the four lines written in it.

They were sure it wasn’t  an empty book when they opened it the first time, and yet..

“ Ok. That was too much beer. Rose, do you know any place where we can sleep tonight?”

“ Sure. There’s an inn across the street.”

 

\-----

Debbie insists she pays for the rooms because she has her own ( stolen ) money, thank you.

“ But you didn’t stea- don’t have enough for three rooms, dear.”

“ Why would we need three rooms?”

“ Because we’re three people standing here?”

“…”

“….”

“…oh.”

 

\-----

 

“ What are we gonna do now?”

Later, when the moon is full on the sky and Debbie’s head is resting on Lou’s chest, tracing circles on Lou’s collarbone and Lou has her fingers in Debbie’s hair, they realize that getting  back to New York is impossible. There’s no spell for it in Lou’s tome, and there’s no way anybody has ever heard of New York-let alone America.

“We get some sleep. We meet with Rose tomorrow, take up a mission and earn some money. Try to discover what’s with the book, how to get back. We start a new life here if we are to never go back. We stay together, whatever comes.”

And Debbie is grateful for the darkness, because there’s a tear threatening to fall out in the corner of her eye. She’s scared, but Lou is right; they stay together. The rest, they’ll figure it out . Just like always.

“ You know, it’s funny how in every world you’re still a thief. Guess old habits die hard.”

“ my mastery is universally acclaimed, as you can see. And don’t act like you don’t like it. At least I’m not some nerd that cast spells and all.”

“ I‘m a witch. Fuck off.”

“ Aww, my smart girl is mad. Don’t be. You know, I found that trick you pulled with the fire quite arousing, actually.”

Lou sneaks an arm around Debbie and slips them over, a wide grin plastered on her face.

“ Well then, I might as well show you some tricks that are off the book.”

 

\----

 

They start with easy missions; they help citizens reach their destination, offering their protection; they deliver items and letters around the city; they fix roofs and get rid of the abnormal, green rats that threaten the crops of the farmers. They don’t earn a lot, just enough to pay for their meals and rooms.

They get stronger, eventually; Lou learns how to control the tree spells she knows, Debbie gets better, faster with her knife and Rose actually manages to tame a Phanter  ( a blue one this time) that becomes a part of their team. They never take missions outside the village, until they do; they venture in the forest to find suspicious ingredients for a witch; they hunt down boars with six legs and sometimes they don’t even make it back to the village, they just camp and start a fire, hoping that they will wake up next day alive.

A week passes, and Debbie finds that it is weird, how they just fell into the groove of the new world; they don’t talk about home, but ask every living creature that doesn’t jump for their throat if they know a way back; they don’t dwell on the past, but sometimes Debbie wonders if anybody ever misses them. And then a hopeful thought: that perhaps Danny, who disappeared mysteriously two years ago, might be here too, stuck just like them.

“ We should head west; there’s a big city there, Camoa. Maybe you can find more there. And we really need a change; there’s so many roofs we can fix here.”

Rose’s suggestion is welcome, but it’s just too far to travel on foot. Rose tells them she could tame Chocobos, but she doesn’t have the weapon for it; they find it ( a yellow, shiny flute) at a local shop, but it’s too expensive for them, so they take up more missions.

\---------

“ Hey Deb, look at this; you have competition.”

One day, on the list of available missions one catches their eye; apparently there’s an unidentified  pickpocket in Camoa  that is emptying wallets left and right, and authorities want somebody to catch him. Debbie recognizes talent when she sees it, but wonders if the same values apply to the con world in Ivalice. The recompense is high enough , so they sign up for the mission and finally gather enough money to buy the flute for Rose, who soon enough finds a pack of wild chocobos and tames them.

They pack their belongings ( not much) ,rose releases her beloved Phanter and, with a last look at Targ Wood, they leave.

( Debbie won’t admit it, but seeing Lou riding the Chocobo, with the wind in her hair and a carefree smile on her face makes her miss home  a little less . Especially when the sky is as blue and clear as Lou’s eyes; she’s never seen a sky like this in New York.)

**Author's Note:**

> ( now watch me not updating this bc lack of time and inspiration even if i ave the whole story planned out )


End file.
